digging graves// rick grimes x OC//

Cherokee Rose Part 2

   Shane packs away all the weapons into a large duffel bag at a picnic table. As he takes his out of his holster, Andrea stomps over, "Give up our guns?"
   He takes his police baseball cap off with a sigh, "You heard Rick. We're guests here."
   "And you're okay with it?"
   "I don't recall being asked," he replies getting increasingly upset, "Now lay down your weapon."
   "You may like rolling over, I don't."
   "Look, I have to strip and clean them anyway. You still want to learn?" he gets no response as he watches her shift her weight to the opposite leg, "Go on." Finally giving in, she puts her pistol on the table, Shane nods and sits down, "Alright. Sit down," she does as she's told, sitting across from the man, "Unload your weapon." Andrea goes to unload it, the barrel pointing at Shane, "Hey. Hey," he says pushing it away from him, "Check the chamber. Pull it back. Push that lever out. It'll slide off," she smiles once it comes off, "You're halfway there."
——
   Winona had watched the scene between Andrea and Shane unfold from afar. She still felt a twinge of jealousy but she shook her head to clear her thoughts. Spotting Daryl walking by himself, she runs over, "Daryl!"
   "Hey, Wi," he greets back.
   "I'm glad to have caught you before you go. Promise you'll be careful?"
   "You sayin' I'm chicken-shit?" he asks sarcastically.
   She nudges him in the side and rolls her eyes, "No, dumbass, I'm saying I care about you— so I want you to be careful."
   "Never asked you to."
   "Well then that's too bad," she stops, putting her hands on her hips, "You can't stop me. I'm not gonna stop either."
   Daryl halts, looking at the woman in front of him but says nothing. Then, he smiles and ruffles her hair, "Yeah, I know. No promises, but I'll try." He couldn't explain why he had such a soft spot for this girl, he knew Merle would probably call him weak and say that Winona pities him, but he didn't care- he liked being around her. He wanted to protect her, she was like the sister he never had. He then remembers how excited she was to ride the motorcycle so without thinking, he speaks, "When I get back, I'll teach ya how to ride the bike."
    Winona's eyes widen and pulls him into a big hug, "Really?! Holy shit, that would be amazing!" she excitedly says back.
    Daryl is surprised at the hug at first, "Jesus, woman get off 'a me. Don't make me regret this,"
   "Oh hush, I'm excited. Thank you, Daryl," Winona replies with a chuckle. Daryl finally hugs back but quickly breaks it and starts to walk away, Winona following him.
   Rick sits on the stairs— messing with his hat. Seeing the pair interacting, he feels a weird emotion that he couldn't quite place. He calls out for the redneck, "Daryl," the man stops again and looks at Rick, "You okay on your own? Or is Winona going with you, even though she's not supposed to?" Rick asks, raising a brow at the woman.
   "Nah, she ain't coming with. Just seeing me off. I'm better on my own. I'll be back before dark," Daryl answers and keeps walking.
   "Hey," Rick says, making Daryl stop once more, "We got a base. We can get this search properly organized now."
   "You got a point or are we just chatting?" Daryl snaps, Winona lightly smacks his arm with a disapproving look.
   "My point is it lets you off the hook. You don't owe us anything."
   Daryl turns around and continues walking, "My other plans fell through."
   Winona looks at Rick but decides against staying and chases after the redneck. What she fails to notice is the dejected look on Rick's face when he watches her chase after Daryl. She catches up to him, "What was that all about?"
   "What?"
   "You snapping at Rick."
   Daryl huffs, "It's nothin'"
   "Yeah. Uh huh," she says sarcastically.
   Daryl huffs, "Feels like I'm the only one who gives a shit about finding this little girl."
   "Hey, you know that's not true. I would be going with you if I could and I know Rick would be too. We all just need to regroup and get all our shit together and planned. You're the only one who is capable of tracking as good as a bloodhound. We will find her."
   "Yeah. Yeah. I know. We will," he responds shortly. They stop by the horses, Daryl hinting he wants to be alone. 
   Taking the hint, Winona pulls him in for a hug, which he returns, he's growing more accustomed to her random affections, "Well, I'll see you later. And you better be in one piece, okay?"
   "Yeah," he nods and separates from the woman. She waves goodbye as she heads back towards the house.
——
    After Rick watched Winona walk away with Daryl, he finds Hershel, "We could give you more space," he says, "Set up over by the barn."
    "No, no need for that," Hershel objects, "Better you stay close to the house. I don't say this easily, Rick. We don't normally take in strangers. I can't have your people thinking this is permanent. Once you find this girl and your boys fit for travel, I expect you'll move on. We need to be clear on that," the older man concludes and briskly walks away. Rick stands alone processing what Hershel said.
——
    Glenn peeks through binoculars towards Maggie who is riding a horse while leading another horse. Winona smirks, seeing he was distracted, she walks in front of his view, "Whatcha' lookin' at there, Glenny?"
    He jumps, startled that Winona caught him, "Uh n-nothing!"
   "That doesn't seem like nothing," her grin widens, "Does someone have a crush?"
    "No!" he clears his throat, "No. I do not have a crush."
   "If you say so..." she looks at him with doubt. Seeing Rick entering the house and remembering where they left off, she quickly turns back to Glenn, "Uh, I gotta go. I need to check up on Carl. We'll talk later."
    Glenn notices Rick as well, and throws Winona's words back at her, "If you say so..."
    "Shut it," she says back, her lips forming a tight line.
    As she begins to leave, Glenn smirks, "Tell him hi for me." She raises her hand, flipping him off and causing him to laugh. Glenn lifts the binoculars back up and continues watching Maggie, "Hello, farmer's daughter."
   Lori approaches, walking in front of him just like Winona had done moments prior. He quickly lowers the binoculars. Lori just nods awkwardly, "Hi. Here's your list," she hands over the paper, "And, um, there's one other item. I wrote it down separately. It's personal. If we could be real discreet about that, okay?"
   He takes the paper and opens it, "Sure."
   She starts walking away, "Thank you."
   "Uh, what is it?"
   "Kind of missing the point of the whole discreet thing, Glenn."
    "Oh, right. Um...I just need to know where to find it."
    "Try the feminine hygiene section."
    "Oh. Enough said. Consider it done."
——
   Winona heads inside, finding Rick with Carl, "Heya, Sheriff," she greets him with a warm smile, which he returns.
   "Hey, Deputy," he says glumly.
Immediately, she picks up on his melancholic mood, she sits on the foot of the bed, "Everything alright? You seem upset."
    "Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about, Winona," he gets up, leaving the room.
    "You don't seem fine, Rick," Winona follows him, "Looks to me like you're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. What's going on in that head of yours? You can talk to me, ya know?"
    Rick rubs his face, "Is it that obvious?"
   "Just a bit, Cowboy," she answers crossing her arms, "Now will you please tell me? I hate to see you like this."
   Rick glances around the house, lowering his voice to a whisper, "This isn't permanent. Hershel wants us out after Carl is healed and we find Sophia. I don't know where we'll go."
   Winona leads Rick to sit and she takes a seat next to him, "It'll be okay, you'll figure something out, you're smart like that. I trust you."
   "I know. I don't know why you do."
   "Because, Rick, after everything we've seen and been through, we're still alive and in one piece. That goes for the group too. Yes, sometimes you do some stupid shit, but you still get us out of the mess we're in."
   He looks at the woman beside him, "Thank you, Winona."
   "You say that a lot. I don't know why you're thanking me."
    "Because, like I said earlier, you always know how to make me smile."
   "Well I hate seeing you upset."
   "Exactly. You're the most selfless person I know. You care so much about everyone and you always try to make the best out of every situation."
   "You flatter me, but I'm really not that great. I'm just me, nothing special."
    "And I wouldn't want anyone different. I'd say you're pretty special."
   She playfully nudges him, "Jeez, Cowboy, how much blood did you give? You're losing it."
   "It's the truth."
   "I could say the same thing. You're pretty special too, Grimes. On a different note, you need to rest up, you did give a lot of blood yesterday."
   "Right back at ya, Graves. You gave blood too."
    Winona raises her hands in defeat, "Okay okay. You got me there. I'm gonna check over Carl, that's what I came in here to do, but I got distracted."
    "Sorry 'bout that, I'll let you get back to your nurse duties."
    "It's okay, I always enjoy talking with you."
   "Ditto."
   Winona stands heading back into Carl's room, "Catch ya later, Sheriff."
   "You too, Deputy," Rick smiles heading out of the house.
——
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